Kee-chung Sohn

Champion long distance runner Kee-chung Sohn was born into poverty on August 29, 1912 in Sinuiju, North Pyongan, Japanese Korea. Sohn studied at Yangjeong High School in Seoul, South Korea and attended Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan (he graduated from said university in 1940). Kee-chung's athletic career took off after he won an 8-mile race in October, 1933; he went on to run in twelve marathons between the years 1933 and 1936 in which he finished within the first three places of each marathon and won nine of those races altogether. Although he was forced to participate under his Japanese of Son Kitei as a member of the Japanese delegation, Sohn nonetheless still won the gold medal in the men's marathon at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Germany. Hailed as a national hero in his native Korea, Kee-chung in the wake of his triumph at the Olympics embarked on a successful career as a coach for various champion runners who include 1947 Boston Marathon winner Suh Yun-Bak, 1950 Boston Marathon winner Ham Kee-Young, and 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist Hwang Young-Cho. Moreover, Sohn had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch into the stadium for the opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympic games in Seoul, South Korea. Kee-chung died from kidney failure at age 90 on November 15, 2002. In the wake of his death the Sohn Kee-chung Memorial Park in Seoul was established in his honor. In addition, Sohn was also posthumously made a Grand Cordon (Blue Dragon) of the Sport Merit.